Mugabe's burial controversy reaches its end

The funeral of former Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe unfolded in Harare on Saturday (September 14).

Foreign leaders, supporters, and ordinary citizens all here to honor the man who led the country for 37 years -- from its war of liberation from white minority rule, to the military coup that ended his reign just two years ago.

The man who replaced him, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, pushed against critics of Mugabe's legacy:

(SOUNDBITE) (English) ZIMBABWE PRESIDENT EMMERSON MNANGAGWA, SAYING:

"A lie heavily sponsored by a retrogressive narrative falsely framing the late comrade Mugabe giving him many false names, routinely and systematically vilifying him."

This is a complicated moment for Mnangagwa and Zimbabwe, and it's reflected in Mugabe's burial plans.

On Friday a representative of Mugabe's family, his nephew, said the family reached an agreement with Mnangagwa's government to eventually bury the leader in a mausoleum.

It hasn't been constructed yet but it will be on the site of an existing monument called the National Heroes Acre, a sacred cemetery for the warriors of the liberation war.

Originally the family demanded that Mugabe be buried in his home village -- bitter over the way that his former allies, including Mnangagwa, had conspired to topple him.

And among ordinary citizens a mixed reaction as well: seen by some as a national champion, to others associated with totalitarian rule. The stadium was only about half full.

Robert Mugabe is expected to be buried in about a month.